Transport of body across state line

No person shall move or transport a body across a Georgia state line until the investigation of the case and the medical examiner’s inquiry are complete and until the removal of the body is authorized by the coroner or medical examiner. Except when the conduct is a violation of Code Section 16-10-94, any person who violates this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $500.00 or more than $1,000.00 or 60 days in jail, or both. (Ga. L. 1960, p. 1009, § 9; Ga. L. 1985, p. 843, § 8; Ga. L. 1990, p. 1735, § 3; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1421, § 9.) Editor’s notes. — Ga. L. 1997, p. 1421, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: ‘‘This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Georgia Forensic Sciences Act of 1997.’ ’’ 45-16-31. Authorization of removal of body for convenience of examination; investigation of premises before removal. When the deceased body lies in a place inconvenient for holding a medical examiner’s inquiry, the medical examiner or coroner shall be allowed to remove the body to the autopsy room of the nearest public hospital or morgue. If neither the coroner nor the medical examiner is immediately available, the peace officer may assume the authority to have the body moved to such facility. When such facility is not reasonably available, the body may be removed to such other suitable place as may be designated by the coroner or the medical examiner or by the peace officer in charge in the absence of the coroner or medical examiner. If the peace officer in charge is present, no such body shall be removed until photographs of the body and surrounding premises have been made and a thorough investigation of the premises has been made by the proper investigating authorities. (Laws 1850, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 540; Ga. L. 1862-63, p. 166, § 2; Code 1868, § 4039; Code 1873, § 4110; Code 1882, § 4110; Penal Code 1895, § 1269; Penal Code 1910, § 1351; Code 1933, § 21-206; Ga. L. 1953, Jan.-Feb. Sess., p. 602, § 7; Ga. L. 1960, p. 1009, § 5; Ga. L. 1985, p. 843, § 9; Ga. L. 1990, p. 1735, § 3.) History of Code section. — It appears that § 4110, which would be in the history of this section, was inadvertently left out of the 1882 Code.